Planetary Hour

The planetary hour is the planetary rulership of a period of time within a 24 hour period, the planetary day, which lasts from sunrise to sunrise and is divided into 12 equal daylight hours, and 12 equal night time hours. The first planetary hour of the day determines the rulership of the planetary day. Thus, sunrise on Sunday begins the planetary hour and day of the Sun. The length of each planetary hour is determined by the number of minutes between sunrise and sunset divided by 12.

Each day is ruled by a planet – Sunday is ruled by the Sun, Monday by the Moon, Tuesday by Mars, Wednesday by Mercury, Thursday by Jupiter, Friday by Venus, Saturday by Saturn and divided up into 12 day hours and 12 night hours, each ruled by a planet. The first day hour begins at dawn and is ruled by the planet that rules the day. Subsequent hours are ruled by the next planets in the succession as follows: Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon (see Chaldean sequence) and then repeats after 7 hours, so that the 8th hour is the same as the first. The twenty fifth hour, that is the first hour of the next day, determines the rulership of the next day.

Calculating Planetary Hours

To calculate planetary hours, first determine the moment of sunrise, sunset, and sunrise for the following day. To determine your day hours, calculate the number of minutes between sunrise and sunset and divide the result by 12. This is the length of each of your day hours. Repeat for the number of minutes between sunset and sunrise to calculate your night hours. Unless it’s an equinox, there is likely to be a significant difference between the length of your day hours and your night hours.

The first hour, according to the modern method, is the hour of sunrise and its ruling planet is also the ruling planet of the day. The second hour is the next in the Chaldean Sequence and so on, continuing to travel through the seven planets and back again to the first through the entire 24 hours.

Using Planetary Hours to Plan Magick and Other Activities

While there are many different options for timing spells and other magical activities, many magick-users choose to use the planetary days and hours. The time is generally chosen according to by checking the magical goal against the established planetary correspondences. For example, a love spell might be undertaken during the planetary hour of Venus.

The 16th-century grimoire, the [*Key of Solomon http://www.esotericarchives.com/solomon/ksol.htm#table1] has a chapter that details which activities are best performed during which planetary hour and/or day. The text notes that it is best if both the day and the hour are correct.

Planet

Hour and/or Day

Saturn

communicating and speaking with spirits, hatred, enmity, quarrel, legal action, discord, Summoning the souls of the dead if they died a natural death, bring good or bad fortune to buildings, to connect with familiar spirits during sleep, to cause good or ill in business, material possessions, fruit, seeds, to acquire learning, to bring destruction, to give death, to sow hatred or discord

communicating and speaking with spirits, recovery of stolen property, for obtaining nocturnal visions, for summoning spirits in sleep, and for preparing anything relating to water, embassies, voyages, envoys, messages, navigation, reconciliation, love, the acquisition of merchandise by water

The Key of Solomon also notes that it is a good idea to take note of the zodiac sign that the moon is passing through as well as the lunar phase, noting that the waxing moon is good for just about anything except death, war, discord and invisibility, which is best left for the waning moon, though it warns against working during the dark of the moon at all (though perhaps it is warning against working during the solar eclipse, a bit difficult to tell).1 We discuss this further at Spell Timing.

Alchemists also make use of planetary days and hours as some alchemical operations are prescribed during these specified times.

Those who use herbs for magick or healing may also wish to plant and/or harvest their herbs in the appropriate planetary sign. Nicholas Culpeper advised timing the harvest of plants according to the planetary correspondence of the plant so that the planetary energy would be at peak strength.

Many also choose to time more mundane activities to correspond with the planetary hours and days in order to ensure the best possible outcome.

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